Is Female Breast Reduction the Same as Male Breast Reduction?

One might think that a breast reduction procedure might be the same for a woman as a man, but the goals are very different and so are the procedures.

For the man with male breasts known as gynecomastia, the desired result is to have an almost flat chest but leaving enough fat and breast tissue to have a natural looking contoured chest. This needs to be achieved without leaving any visible scars so as not to exchange one problem for a new one. A man wants to be comfortable going shirtless and signs of scarring are not a good tradeoff for reduction of the gynecomastia breast.

For a woman with painful pendulous breasts, reducing the size can achieve health benefits such as diminished back, neck and shoulder pain to a degree that they may qualify for health insurance coverage for their breast reduction surgery.

The surgical goal for a woman is to decrease volume, lift and reshape the breast into an aesthetically pleasing shape at a smaller more comfortable size maintaining breast function and sensation.

This presents a challenge for the surgeon. No woman wants scars on her breasts but they will have either a vertical incision (short scar) or what is known as the “inverted T”. With time these scars fade and for some they become almost undetectable, but all agree the tradeoff is well worth it. To become pain free and feel good in their clothes, most Sonoma County women wish they hadn’t waited so long for their reduction mammoplasty!